Author(s)

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2012

Publication Source

Music Therapy Perspectives

Abstract

This report highlights a collaborative, phenomenological study undertaken by two faculty researchers from different undergraduate music therapy training programs in the Midwest. A total of nine junior and senior music therapy students from both programs (five from one, four from the other) were involved in short-term group music therapy, participating in three two-hour sessions during the course of an academic semester. Sessions were facilitated by the researchers, both of whom were board-certified music therapists.

To ensure ethical treatment, each researcher led sessions with the students from the other university, with whom they had no dual relationships. Student participants were involved in several variations of the four music therapy methods of improvisation, recreation, composition, and listening. After each session and in between sessions, participants reflected in writing on their experiences of self, others, and the therapeutic process in which they were involved.

A final online survey was distributed at the end of the project to gather further input about the students' perceptions. A holistic description of the participants' experiences was derived using qualitative content analysis. Students indicated that they grew in areas such as self-awareness and identified greater empathy as a key learning outcome. Specific results are presented herein.

Inclusive pages

65-82

ISBN/ISSN

0734-6875

Document Version

Postprint

Comments

The document available for download is the authors' accepted manuscript, posted here in compliance with the publisher's policy on self-archiving. Some differences may exist between this version and the publisher's version; as such, researchers wishing to quote directly from it are advised to consult the version of record, available at many libraries or from the publisher.